I'm trying to come up with a background and backstory for a level 1 character in a new campaign but it made me question something. Backgrounds like Folk Hero, Mecenary Veteran and Criminal (Spy) sound like the backgrounds of a seasoned r higher level character. If you want to make a character that was a war hero who's seen alot of combat, or a spy that's high in the ranks, how do you make that mesh with the fact your character is only level 1?
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Thanks for taking my hobbies and ruining them, one genre at a time WotC and Hasbro.
The most helpful/important thing to remember is that characters in DnD can be roughly divided into two categories: heroic (has levels) and non-heroic (doesn't have levels).
Even someone with an above-average level of skill or training in an area isn't necessarily a heroic character. Heroic characters are the Olympic athletes of the world; there are only a handful of other people on their level, even at level one, and a non-heroic character can be plenty talented or strong or experienced but still simply not be able to match a heroic character's abilities.
(To use a more literary metaphor: Beowulf is a heroic character. He wrestles sea monsters and slays dragons and rips off Grendel's arm with his bare hands. His spearmen are all seasoned, skilled warriors, but they simply aren't on his level; they are still non-heroic characters, despite having many years of battle experience.)
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"We're the perfect combination of expendable and unkillable!"
Beyond that, Level 1 isn't a chump. Level 1 is high above commoners.
Also, Folk Hero doesn't mean War Hero. A folk hero can be as much as someone who stood up to some tax collectors once. However, in doing so, the common man started seeing them as a champion. Likewise, spy doesn't mean James Bond. A spy could just be someone who ferried notes from place to place, maybe had to break into a few places once or twice. Maybe they killed a few guards in their life, but that was probably in a crew and each guard is worth 25 XP divided amongst however many people. Maybe you could make a very accomplished character starting with 150-200 XP, if you feel like they're very accomplished before adventuring.
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I'm trying to come up with a background and backstory for a level 1 character in a new campaign but it made me question something. Backgrounds like Folk Hero, Mecenary Veteran and Criminal (Spy) sound like the backgrounds of a seasoned r higher level character. If you want to make a character that was a war hero who's seen alot of combat, or a spy that's high in the ranks, how do you make that mesh with the fact your character is only level 1?
Thanks for taking my hobbies and ruining them, one genre at a time WotC and Hasbro.
The most helpful/important thing to remember is that characters in DnD can be roughly divided into two categories: heroic (has levels) and non-heroic (doesn't have levels).
Even someone with an above-average level of skill or training in an area isn't necessarily a heroic character. Heroic characters are the Olympic athletes of the world; there are only a handful of other people on their level, even at level one, and a non-heroic character can be plenty talented or strong or experienced but still simply not be able to match a heroic character's abilities.
(To use a more literary metaphor: Beowulf is a heroic character. He wrestles sea monsters and slays dragons and rips off Grendel's arm with his bare hands. His spearmen are all seasoned, skilled warriors, but they simply aren't on his level; they are still non-heroic characters, despite having many years of battle experience.)
"We're the perfect combination of expendable and unkillable!"
Thank you! This is exactly the perspective I needed!
Thanks for taking my hobbies and ruining them, one genre at a time WotC and Hasbro.
Beyond that, Level 1 isn't a chump. Level 1 is high above commoners.
Also, Folk Hero doesn't mean War Hero. A folk hero can be as much as someone who stood up to some tax collectors once. However, in doing so, the common man started seeing them as a champion. Likewise, spy doesn't mean James Bond. A spy could just be someone who ferried notes from place to place, maybe had to break into a few places once or twice. Maybe they killed a few guards in their life, but that was probably in a crew and each guard is worth 25 XP divided amongst however many people. Maybe you could make a very accomplished character starting with 150-200 XP, if you feel like they're very accomplished before adventuring.